Chapter 324

Chapter 324: A Tiny Discrepancy

Lou Yun’s face still wore an utterly bewildered expression. His eyes, devoid of focus, stared blankly at the face of the elderly man before him.

Slowly, a smile surfaced on the old face—the kind that exuded peace, tranquility, and relaxation.

After a moment of staring into that smiling countenance, an identical smile finally formed on Lou Yun’s own face. Yet, it was an exceedingly stiff and wooden smile, signifying that he had simultaneously released the last trace of vigilance within his heart!

At this point, the old man finally spoke, his voice low and carrying a hint of magnetism: "Child, you are awake!"

"Hmm, I am awake!" Completely disarmed, Lou Yun naturally began to answer the old man’s question.

The old man maintained his gentle smile: "You slept for a very, very long time. I imagine you must have had a very, very long dream as well?"

"A dream?"

"Yes, from the moment you were born until now, you have been sleeping. You have only just awakened. While you were deep in slumber, I noticed the expressions on your face changing constantly. So, I believe you must have had a dream, and that dream was certainly very, very long!"

As the old man spoke, countless images flashed through Lou Yun’s mind. These scenes contained both himself and other people. Strangely, these images felt both alien and familiar to him.

"So… I was only dreaming?" Lou Yun mumbled to himself.

"Yes, you were only dreaming!" The old man’s voice resonated with certainty: "You surely faced many perplexities within that dream, didn’t you?"

Lou Yun didn’t immediately respond to this question. Instead, a look of confusion resurfaced on his face. He tilted his head, thinking with serious concentration. After a moment, he nodded firmly: "Yes. In the dream, I faced many perplexities."

The old man’s smile widened slightly: "Those perplexities were all experiences born from your dream. They were all illusory. So now, you can voice these confusions, and I will help you resolve them."

The confusion on Lou Yun’s face gradually dissipated as he nodded: "Alright."

And so, Lou Yun genuinely began to voice, one by one, the confusions that had surfaced earlier in his mind. The old man, in turn, patiently began answering each one. Although these answers were completely disconnected from Lou Yun’s actual perplexities, Lou Yun acted like an obedient child, showing expressions of deep satisfaction and sudden clarity at the old man’s responses.

Had anyone witnessed this scene, they surely would have believed it to be a dedicated teacher unraveling the inner confusions of his pupil.

However, the truth was drastically different. This scene was not real at all. Neither this world of pure white nor this kindly old man were real. They were already figments existing within the True Dream Realm—products of Lou Yun’s own imagination, existing solely within the confines of his mind!

Naturally, the reason for such a dream was still the Second Elder, who continued his ceaseless guqin playing, compelling Lou Yun to conjure it. As the architect of this True Dream Realm, the Second Elder held dominion over it. He could orchestrate everything within the dream to unfold precisely according to his will. Even the words spoken by the elderly man facing Lou Yun were concoctions of his own design.

In his unconscious state, robbed of his capacity for thought, Lou Yun naturally couldn’t harbor any trace of suspicion here. Whatever the old man said, Lou Yun believed. Thus, the Second Elder proceeded step by step, incrementally coaxing information regarding the Divine Weapon Emperor from Lou Yun.

However, within the True Dream Realm, the only confusion Lou Yun expressed pertained to subjects related to his own family. He hadn’t touched upon the Divine Weapon Emperor at all. Though the Second Elder burned with impatience, he dared not risk a direct inquiry. He believed that the Divine Weapon Emperor was undoubtedly, for Lou Yun, a secret of immense importance—a secret likely capable of deeply stirring his heart, buried in its most profound depths. It had to emerge naturally, following the course of Lou Yun’s own heart and volition.

A forced inquiry might provoke Lou Yun’s displeasure and alertness. Within the True Dream Realm, if a subject manifested these two reactions, they might very well awaken prematurely. The Second Elder absolutely did not have the courage to take such a risk. Therefore, he could only patiently guide Lou Yun while engaging in vague conversation, his mind not truly focused on the words.

Playing the five kinds of guqin melodies incessantly was already a massive drain on one’s spiritual energy. Compounded by the intense effort required to maintain the realism of the True Dream Realm, the Second Elder was rapidly approaching complete depletion of his spiritual energy. He had no choice but to cast a beseeching glance towards the Grand Elder.

The Grand Elder had been poised nearby, prepared for this moment. Seeing the Second Elder’s look for aid, with a swift movement of his wrist, he placed another ancient guqin across his knees. He positioned his hands over the strings and nodded gravely to the Second Elder.

The melody played by the Second Elder suddenly became urgent. The notes steadily ascended in pitch until they reached a piercing crescendo. At the very apex, the sound abruptly ceased. Utter silence instantly fell upon the surroundings. Yet, this silence didn’t even last half a second before another melody, gentle and soothing this time, began to play.

However, this new melody wasn’t emanating from the Second Elder; it came from the Grand Elder.

While such a relay of music might appear simple, executing it without the slightest discrepancy demanded exceptional mutual understanding and profound mastery of the guqin. Additionally, the cultivation realms and powers of both players were crucial factors. In short, the variables involved were numerous. Unless one were supremely confident, attempting it was foolhardy!

The Grand Elder and the Second Elder, both Elders of the Huangfu Family, had lived and cultivated together for decades. They had naturally cultivated an extremely high level of tacit understanding. Even so, during this musical handover, an unavoidable interruption of less than half a second occurred.

It was precisely this tiny slip that triggered an unanticipated change within the True Dream Realm!

Lou Yun was diligently confiding his perplexities to the old man when his heart abruptly gave a powerful thud. His eyes involuntarily snapped upwards. He was shocked to discover that the face of the old man before him… had changed!

It was still an elderly face, wearing a benevolent and affectionate expression. But the actual features—the specific angles and contours—were entirely different from before. Most noticeably, the eyes held an unmistakable torrent of tender care, gazing deeply at Lou Yun.

For reasons Lou Yun couldn’t fully grasp, the sight of this new face flooded him with a profound, genuine sense of security and familiarity, a feeling deeply rooted within his soul. So powerful was this feeling that his eyes welled up with moisture unnoticeably. His lips trembled slightly, betraying intense emotion. He felt overwhelmed, wanting to speak yet finding no words, remaining motionless as he locked gazes with the entirely new elderly visage before him.

The old man finally opened his mouth. Astonishingly, his words sounded remarkably similar to what the previous face had uttered: "Child, wake up."

Though aware of the intensity of his emotions, Lou Yun knew he needed to reply: "I… I am already awake!"

The old man smiled gently, shaking his head: "No, child. You are not awake. This is the True Dream Realm. It is entirely an unreal scene constructed within your mind by others. It is not real!"

"True Dream Realm!"

Lou Yun murmured these four words repeatedly under his breath. With each repetition, a fraction of his bewilderment intensified, yet his mind simultaneously grew incrementally clearer. After reciting it a dozen or so times, a sudden strand of golden light pierced through the foggy chaos of his mind.

This golden light was like a shaft of lightning blazing with thunderous radiance. Lou Yun’s muddled consciousness, previously swirling in infinite darkness, saw the darkness violently torn asunder by the lightning’s appearance. His mind snapped into clarity in an instant!

Finally, expression returned to Lou Yun’s face. His eyes regained their familiar lively spark as they darted about. His face wore an expression of astonishment. He swiftly glanced over his own body before his gaze snapped back to the elderly face still present before him.

The moment he looked upon this face, Lou Yun seemed to lapse back into his earlier unconscious state. He froze entirely in place. The vitality and alertness that had just returned seemed to vanish once more.

The old man merely continued gazing at him with a gentle smile, seemingly waiting patiently for Lou Yun to regain his senses. Lou Yun did not disappoint; the seemingly unconscious stupor dissipated after only a few moments.

Lou Yun blinked. His tiger-like eyes were lightly reddened. Suddenly, his knees buckled with a heavy "thump," and he knelt resolutely before the old man. He cried out urgently: "Master!"

The face before him, now altered in its specific features, was unmistakably that of his master, Mr. Commoner!

Lou Yun was naturally brimming with renewed confusion. How could his master have appeared here? According to what his master had just told him to break his stupor, wasn’t this the True Dream Realm? And wasn’t this True Dream Realm specifically fabricated for him by the Elders of the Huangfu Family? It was not created by his master. So, how did his master enter it?

The most crucial question: His master didn’t belong to the Spirit Weapon Star. His master wasn’t even known to be alive anymore. How could he possibly be here?

However, Lou Yun brushed these confusions aside. At this moment, his eyes and mind held only his master. He wanted only to speak with his master, to simply savor the profound bond and contentment found uniquely in the teacher-disciple relationship… even if this place truly was still the True Dream Realm.

Mr. Commoner’s smile glowed even brighter: "Child, rise quickly. Your devotion… this master understands it deep within."

Lou Yun remained kneeling on the ground: "Master, during the formal apprenticeship all that time ago, your disciple knew nothing and didn’t have a proper conversation with you. Now that you have appeared again, please… please let your disciple kneel a little longer!"

Mr. Commoner shook his head with a mix of helplessness and profound gratification: "Oh, foolish boy, foolish boy! Rise immediately. If you don’t rise right now, this master shall have to leave once more!"